Bulls miss chances in pair of losses to Topeka over the weekend

By Matt Watkins

For Amarillo Globe-News

Missed opportunities proved to be the downfall over the weekend for the Amarillo Bulls as they suffered a pair of difficult defeats to Topeka at the Amarillo Civic Center Complex Cal Farley’s Coliseum.

The Bulls lost two one goal decisions with a 6-5 loss on Friday, followed by a hard to swallow 4-3 shootout loss Saturday night.

The losses come as Bulls (9-7-2-2 0verall) head coach Rocky Russo returned home with the team for the first time since the passing of his father in a tragic motorcycle accident last month.

“It’s been a pretty tough last month,” Russo said. “It’s not going to go away anytime soon but I’m just trying to immerse myself in my job and do the things that I love, and obviously that I know he loved.”

Amarillo struggled on the power play in the series. The Bulls went 0-for-6 with the man advantage Friday night and 1-for-5 on Saturday, for a combined 1-of-11.

The Bulls also squandered on a five-minute major penalty against Topeka in the third period Saturday night that put Amarillo on a 5-on-3 advantage.

“That’s two of the last five games that we’ve had a five-minute major penalty and didn’t capitalize,” Russo said. “That was a game changer. Especially at this level, you have to be able to take advantage of those major penalties.”

Amarillo struggled despite dominating the Roadrunners with shots on goal. However, the Bulls didn’t bring home one victory and managed only one point in two games even though they out shot Topeka by a 87-55 margin.

“That’s two nights in a row where we’ve gotten 40-plus shots and not enough quality chances,” Russo said. “We’re shooting the puck from the perimeter too often. We’re not getting second and third opportunities and when we are getting those chances we can’t put the puck under the bar.”

Alex Truscott and Colin Price each had a goal in each game over the weekend.

Amarillo will hope to rebound on the road for a pair of games at Lone Star (13-6-1, 22 points) at 7:05 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.